Driving assist system and driving assist method

Abstract

To make it possible to notify a driver of a moving body, which exists in a driving assist area around an own vehicle, according to appropriate timing.SOLUTION: When a moving object existing around a vehicle enters a valid range of a driving assist area defined around the vehicle, a driving assist system 100 of a vehicle notifies a driver of the fact. When a regulation object that regulates entry of the moving object to a travel lane in which a vehicle is traveling exists on the side of the vehicle, the driving assist system restricts the valid range of the driving assist area to a range from the vehicle to the regulation object. When determining that the regulation object does not exist ahead of the vehicle, the driving assist system lifts the restriction of the valid range of the driving assist area.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a driving assistance device and a driving assistance method. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses a conventional surroundings monitoring device that alerts the driver when a moving object is detected in an alarm area to the rear side of the vehicle, and that suppresses the alert to the driver when there is a restricting object to the side of the vehicle that restricts other objects from entering the vehicle's lane. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2003 / 162559 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] There are cases where a barrier such as a guardrail exists immediately before the area where a lane change is possible between the vehicle's own lane and an adjacent lane (hereinafter referred to as the "lane change possible area"). In such cases, there is a possibility that a lane change will be performed immediately in the lane change possible area after the barrier disappears. Therefore, it is considered that one effective measure to prevent contact with other vehicles is to notify the driver from a point before the lane change possible area. However, in the case of the conventional perimeter monitoring device described above, it is not possible to notify the driver until the barrier disappears, and therefore there is a problem in that it is not possible to notify the driver from a point before the lane change possible area.

[0005] The present invention has been made in response to such problems, and aims to enable the driver to be notified at an appropriate time about moving objects present in a driving assistance area around the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle driving assistance device according to one aspect of the present invention is configured to alert the driver when a moving object around the vehicle is present within the effective range of a driving assistance area set around the vehicle, to limit the effective range of the driving assistance area to the range from the vehicle to the restricted object when there is a restricted object on the side of the vehicle that restricts the animal from entering the driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling, and to release the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area when it is determined that there are no more restricted objects in front of the vehicle.

[0007] In addition, a vehicle driving assistance method according to one aspect of the present invention alerts the driver when a moving object around the vehicle is present within the effective range of a driving assistance area set around the vehicle, and when there is a restrictive object on the side of the vehicle that restricts the animal's entry into the driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling, limits the effective range of the driving assistance area to the range from the vehicle to the restrictive object, and when it is determined that there are no more restrictive objects in front of the vehicle, lifts the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to these aspects of the present invention, the restrictions on the effective range of the driving assistance area are lifted when it is determined that there are no more restricted objects in front of the vehicle, so that even if there are restricted objects, the driver can be notified at an appropriate time about moving objects that are present in the driving assistance area around the vehicle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a driving assistance device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a driving assistance area that is set in advance around a vehicle. [Figure 3]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a scene in which there is a restricting object on the side of the vehicle that restricts other objects from entering the vehicle's lane. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a scene in which there is a restricting object on the side of the vehicle that restricts other objects from entering the vehicle's lane. [Figure 5] 4 is a flowchart illustrating driving assistance control according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, like components are designated by like reference numerals.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a driving assistance device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] The driving assistance device 100 includes a surrounding sensor 1, a vehicle sensor 2, an HMI (Human Machine Interface) 3, and a control device 4. The surrounding sensor 1, the vehicle sensor 2, the HMI 3, and the control device 4 are communicably connected to each other via an in-vehicle network 7 that complies with a standard such as a controller area network.

[0013] The surrounding sensor 1 is a sensor for generating surrounding data that represents the situation around a vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "host vehicle") for which driving assistance is provided by the driving assistance device 100. In this embodiment, the surrounding sensor 1 includes one or more external cameras 11 for capturing images of the surroundings of the host vehicle, one or more distance measuring sensors 12 for measuring distances to various targets such as other vehicles (cars, motorcycles, etc.), pedestrians, buildings, and restricted objects present around the host vehicle, and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device 13 that can communicate with other vehicles present around the host vehicle.

[0014] The external camera 11 captures the surroundings of the vehicle at a predetermined frame rate (for example, 10 [Hz] to 40 [Hz]) and generates a surrounding image showing the surroundings of the vehicle. Every time the external camera 11 generates a surrounding image, it transmits the generated surrounding image to the control device 4 as surrounding data.

[0015] The distance measurement sensor 12 irradiates a distance measurement area around the vehicle with laser light, radio waves, ultrasonic waves, or the like, and receives reflected light of the irradiated laser light or reflected waves of the irradiated radio waves or ultrasonic waves. The distance measurement sensor 12 then measures the distance to various targets present within the distance measurement area based on the received reflected light or reflected waves. The distance measurement sensor 12 transmits distance measurement data, in which the distance to each target corresponds to coordinate information of each target, to the control device 4 as peripheral data. Examples of the distance measurement sensor 12 include a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) that irradiates radar light and measures distance based on the reflected light, and a millimeter-wave radar sensor that irradiates radio waves and measures distance based on the reflected waves.

[0016] The inter-vehicle communication device 13 communicates with other vehicles around the vehicle and transmits and receives inter-vehicle information. The inter-vehicle information includes, for example, current position data indicating the current position of the vehicle that is the sender of the information and speed data indicating the traveling speed. The inter-vehicle communication device 13 transmits the current position data and speed data of the other vehicles received from the other vehicles to the control device 4 as surrounding data.

[0017] The vehicle sensor 2 is a sensor for generating vehicle data representing the status of the vehicle. In this embodiment, the vehicle sensor 2 includes a speed sensor 21 that generates speed data indicating the traveling speed of the vehicle, a positioning sensor 22 that generates current position data indicating the current position of the vehicle, such as latitude and longitude, and a turn signal operation sensor 23 that generates turn signal operation data indicating the operation state of the turn signal (blinker) of the vehicle. However, the vehicle sensor 2 is not limited to these sensors. The vehicle sensor 2 transmits each acquired data to the control device 4 as vehicle data.

[0018] The HMI 3 is a user interface for exchanging information between the vehicle and its occupants. The HMI 3 includes an output device 31 for notifying the vehicle occupant through the vehicle occupant's bodily senses (for example, sight, hearing, touch, etc.), and an input device 32 for the vehicle occupant to perform input operations and response operations. In this embodiment, the output device 31 includes displays (for example, a meter display, a center display, a head-up display, etc.) 311, a speaker 312, and an LED indicator lamp 313, and the input device 32 includes a touch panel 321 and a microphone 322.

[0019] The HMI 3 displays information (e.g., text information or image information) corresponding to a display signal received from the control device 4 on a display 311, and outputs sound corresponding to a sound signal from a speaker 312. The HMI 3 also transmits data input by a vehicle occupant via a panel or voice input (hereinafter referred to as "occupant input data") to the control device 4 via the input device 32.

[0020] The HMI 3 may be pre-installed in the vehicle, or may be a terminal such as a smartphone owned by the vehicle occupant. In the latter case, for example, information may be exchanged between the vehicle and the vehicle occupant's terminal by short-range wireless communication, or information may be exchanged indirectly via communication between the vehicle occupant's terminal and an external server (not shown).

[0021] The control device 4 is an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) including a communication unit 41, a storage unit 42, and a processing unit 43.

[0022] The communication unit 41 includes an interface circuit for connecting the control device 4 to the in-vehicle network 7. The communication unit 41 supplies various data received from the sensors 1 and 2, the HMI 3, etc. to the processing unit 43. The communication unit 41 also outputs various signals output from the processing unit 43 to the HMI 3, etc.

[0023] The storage unit 42 has a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid disk drive (SSD), or a semiconductor memory, and stores various computer programs and data used for processing by the processing unit 43.

[0024] The processing unit 43 has one or more central processing units (CPUs) and their peripheral circuits, and executes various computer programs stored in the storage unit 42. The processing unit 43 is, for example, a processor. The processing unit 43 may further include other arithmetic circuits such as a logic operation unit, a numerical operation unit, or a graphics processing unit. The processing unit 43 executes processing in accordance with the computer programs, thereby functioning as a target detection unit 51 and a driving assistance unit 52, and operating as a functional unit (module) that realizes predetermined functions. In the following description, when processing is described using each of the functional units 51 and 52 as the subject, it indicates that the processing unit 43 is executing a program that realizes each of the functional units 51 and 52.

[0025] The following describes the specific processing carried out by the control device 4. That is, the details of the functional units 51 and 52 realized by the processing unit 43 executing processing according to a program will be described.

[0026] The target detection unit 51 detects targets present around the host vehicle based on the surrounding data received from the surrounding sensor 1. In this embodiment, the target detection unit 51 detects moving objects such as other vehicles present around the host vehicle, and restrictions present on the sides of the host vehicle that restrict other objects from entering the host vehicle's lane. Restrictions include, for example, guardrails, guide posts, wire ropes, curbs, and walls.

[0027] The target detection unit 51 sequentially inputs the surrounding images received from the external camera 11 into a classifier, for example, to detect areas in the surrounding images where targets such as other vehicles, pedestrians, buildings, and regulatory objects are depicted, and the types of targets depicted in those areas. The classifier may be, for example, a convolutional neural network (CNN) having multiple convolution layers connected in series from the input side to the output side. The target detection unit 51 estimates the distance from the external camera 11 to the target using the standard size of the target stored in the memory unit 42 for each type of target and the size of the target detected in the surrounding images, and calculates the position and speed of the target by tracking the target detected in the surrounding images over time. The target detection unit 51 can also calculate the distance to the detected target based on distance measurement data from the distance measurement sensor 12.

[0028] Furthermore, the target detection unit 51 calculates the relative positions of other vehicles around the vehicle based on inter-vehicle information (such as current position data of other vehicles) received by the inter-vehicle communication device. Normally, if the restricted object is a wall that is higher than the height of the other vehicles, it is not possible to confirm the other vehicles through the restricted object using the external camera 11 or the distance measurement sensor 12. However, as in this embodiment, by acquiring current position data of other surrounding vehicles using inter-vehicle information, it is possible to calculate the relative positions of other vehicles even if the restricted object is a wall that is higher than the height of the other vehicles.

[0029] The method for detecting the target is not limited to this method, and various known methods may be used for detection.

[0030] When a moving object such as another vehicle recognized by the target detection unit 51 is present in a driving assistance area (see FIG. 2) set in advance around the vehicle, the driving assistance unit 52 provides driving assistance to the driver by issuing a warning, which is an example of a notification that a moving object is present in the driving assistance area, via the HMI 3. The method of issuing the warning is not particularly limited, and for example, a warning by lighting or flashing the LED indicator lamp 313, a warning by a message, a warning by sound, or a bodily warning such as vibrating the steering wheel can be implemented.

[0031] The driving assistance provided by the driving assistance unit 52 will be described in further detail below with reference to FIGS.

[0032] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a driving assistance area that is set in advance around the vehicle, and Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are diagrams showing an example of a scene in which there is a restriction on the side of the vehicle that restricts other objects from entering the vehicle's lane.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 2, the driving assistance area is an area on the left and right sides and behind the vehicle that is difficult for the driver to see directly.

[0034] Here, as shown in Fig. 3, there may be a restriction on the side of the host vehicle that restricts other objects from entering the host vehicle's lane. In such a case, as shown in Fig. 3, even if a moving object exists beyond the restriction and the moving object is in the driving assistance area of ​​the host vehicle, the possibility of contact with the moving object is low because the restriction restricts lane changes. If a warning informing the driver of the presence of such a moving object that is unlikely to come into contact with the host vehicle is provided as driving assistance, some drivers may find the driving assistance annoying.

[0035] Therefore, in this embodiment, when a restricted object is present to the side of the vehicle, the effective range of the driving assistance area is limited to the area on the vehicle side of the restricted object, as shown by the hatched area in Figure 3. In other words, the effective range of the driving assistance area is the range within the driving assistance area where driving assistance is provided. Therefore, under normal circumstances, the entire range of the driving assistance area is the effective range.

[0036] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4, there are many cases where the area ahead of the vehicle is a lane change area where a lane change is possible between the vehicle's own lane and an adjacent lane, and road restrictions exist right up to the lane change area. In such cases, there is a possibility that the vehicle will immediately change lanes in the lane change area after the road restrictions are no longer present.

[0037] Therefore, when the area in front of the vehicle is a lane change area, even if there is a restricted object on the side of the vehicle, if there is a moving object beyond the restricted object and the moving object is in the driving assistance area of ​​the vehicle, it is considered to be one effective measure to prevent contact with the moving object in the lane change area by issuing a warning to the driver informing them of the presence of the moving object from a point some distance before the lane change area.

[0038] Therefore, in this embodiment, when it is determined that there will no longer be any restricted object ahead of the host vehicle on the side of the host vehicle, the effective range of the driving assistance area is not limited even if there is a restricted object on the side of the host vehicle. In other words, the effective range of the driving assistance area is not limited to the area on the host vehicle side of the restricted object, but the entire range of the driving assistance area is made the effective range.

[0039] 5 is a flowchart illustrating the driving assistance control according to this embodiment, which is performed by the driving assistance unit 52 and, in turn, the control device 4. The control device 4 repeatedly executes this routine at a predetermined calculation period ΔT.

[0040] In step S1, the control device 4 determines whether a first or second restriction has been detected as a restriction on the side of the vehicle. The first restriction is a restriction that restricts the entry of other objects into the vehicle's lane, and is capable of detecting a moving object passing over the restriction by the surrounding sensor 1. Examples of the first restriction include a wall that is lower than the height of the vehicle, a curb, a guardrail, a guide post, and a wire rope. The second restriction is a restriction that restricts the entry of other objects into the vehicle's lane, and is capable of detecting a moving object passing over the restriction by the surrounding sensor 1. The second restriction is, for example, a wall that is higher than the height of the vehicle.

[0041] If the control device 4 detects the first restricted object or the second restricted object on the side of the vehicle, the control device 4 proceeds to the process of step S2. On the other hand, if the control device 4 does not detect the first restricted object or the second detection unit on the side of the vehicle, the control device 4 proceeds to the process of step S5.

[0042] In step S2, the control device 4 determines whether the restricted object (first restricted object or second restricted object) will no longer be present on the side of the vehicle after a predetermined time or after traveling a predetermined distance. The method of this determination is not particularly limited, and the determination can be made based on, for example, an image of the front of the vehicle captured by the external camera 11, map information, the speed data of the vehicle, the current position data of the vehicle, etc. If the restricted object will no longer be present on the side of the vehicle after a predetermined time or after traveling a predetermined distance, the control device 4 proceeds to processing in step S5. On the other hand, if the control device 4 determines that the restricted object still exists on the side of the vehicle after a predetermined time or after traveling a predetermined distance, or if it is unclear whether the restricted object will still be present on the side of the vehicle after a predetermined time or after traveling a predetermined distance, the control device 4 proceeds to processing in step S3.

[0043] In step S3, the control device 4 determines whether the turn signal (blinker) on the side where the restricted object is present is activated, for example, based on the turn signal activation data. If the turn signal on the side where the restricted object is present is activated, even if the control device 4 determined in step S2 that a restricted object is still present to the side of the vehicle after a predetermined time or after traveling a predetermined distance, there is a high probability that a lane change will be made in the near future, and the determination is likely to have been incorrect, so the control device 4 proceeds to processing in step S5. On the other hand, if the turn signal on the side where the restricted object is present is not activated, the control device 4 proceeds to processing in step S4.

[0044] In step S4, the control device 4 limits the effective range of the driving assistance area to the range on the host vehicle side of the restricted object.

[0045] In step S5, the control device 4 sets the effective range of the driving assistance area to the normal range, that is, the entire range of the driving assistance area is set as the effective range.

[0046] In step S6, the control device 4 determines whether or not a moving object is present within the effective range of the driving assistance area. For example, if the restricted object is the first restricted object, this determination can be made by calculating the position of the moving object based on the surrounding image and distance measurement data. On the other hand, as described above, if the restricted object is the second restricted object, the moving object beyond the restricted object is hidden by the restricted object, and therefore the position of the moving object cannot be calculated based on the surrounding image and distance measurement data. Therefore, in this embodiment, if the restricted object is the second restricted object, the position of the moving object is calculated based on the vehicle-to-vehicle information. If a moving object is present within the effective range of the driving assistance area, the control device 4 proceeds to processing of step S7. On the other hand, if a moving object is not present within the effective range of the driving assistance area, the control device 4 proceeds to processing of step S8.

[0047] In step S7, the control device 4 issues a warning via the HMI 3 to notify the driver that another vehicle is present in the driving assistance area.

[0048] In step S8, the control device 4 stops the warning that notifies the driver that another vehicle is present in the driving assistance area.

[0049] The driving assistance device 100 for a vehicle according to the present embodiment described above is configured to issue a warning to the driver when a moving object present in the vicinity of the host vehicle is present within the effective range of a driving assistance area set around the host vehicle, to limit the effective range of the driving assistance area to the range from the host vehicle to the restricted object when a restricted object that restricts entry of moving objects into the driving lane in which the host vehicle is traveling is present on the side of the host vehicle, and to cancel the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area when it is determined that the restricted object is no longer present in front of the host vehicle. For example, the driving assistance device 100 for a vehicle according to the present embodiment is configured to determine that the restricted object is no longer present in front of the host vehicle when it is determined that the required time to reach a point where the restricted object is no longer present is within a predetermined time or the distance to the point is within a predetermined distance.

[0050] As a result, when a restricted object is present to the side of the host vehicle, the effective range of the driving assistance area is limited to the range from the host vehicle to the restricted object, thereby preventing the driver from being notified of the presence of a moving object that is unlikely to come into contact with the host vehicle. When it is determined that a restricted object no longer exists ahead of the host vehicle, the limit on the effective range of the driving assistance area is lifted, allowing the driver to be notified of the presence of a moving object from a point ahead of the lane change area. This prevents contact with the moving object in the lane change area.

[0051] Furthermore, the vehicle driving assistance device 100 of this embodiment is configured to remove the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area when a restricted object is present to the side of the vehicle and the turn signal on the side where the restricted object is present is activated, even if it determines that a restricted object is present in front of the vehicle.

[0052] This allows the driver to be notified of the presence of a moving object from a point before the lane change area ahead, even if the determination of whether or not a restricted object will no longer exist ahead of the vehicle is incorrect.

[0053] Furthermore, the vehicle driving assistance device 100 according to this embodiment is configured to determine whether the moving object is present within the effective range of the driving assistance area based on the position information of the moving object around the vehicle acquired through vehicle-to-vehicle communication (short-range communication) when the restricted object is a second restricted object (a predetermined restricted object) through which the moving object cannot be detected by the external camera 11 (camera) or the distance sensor 121.

[0054] This allows the system to detect moving objects that are beyond the second restrictive object, such as a high wall, which cannot be seen by the driver, and to alert the driver to the presence of the moving object from a point before the lane change area ahead.

[0055] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above embodiments merely illustrate some of the application examples of the present invention, and it is not intended that the technical scope of the present invention be limited to the specific configurations of the above embodiments.

[0056] For example, in the above embodiment, when the restricted object is a second restricted object, an example was given in which communication with another vehicle, which is an example of a moving object around the vehicle, is carried out by vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which is an example of short-range communication.However, it may also be possible to determine whether a moving object, such as a pedestrian or bicycle, is present in the driving assistance area based on current position data of the moving object obtained by pedestrian-to-vehicle communication, which is an example of short-range communication.

[0057] Also, for example, in the above embodiment, the computer program executed in the control device 4 may be provided in a form recorded on a computer-readable portable recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium. [Explanation of symbols]

[0058] 11 External Camera (Camera) 12 Distance measurement sensor 100 Driving assistance device

Claims

1. A driving assistance device for a vehicle, When a moving object existing around the vehicle is within an effective range of a driving assistance area set around the vehicle, a notification is given to the driver; When a restricting object that restricts the moving object from entering the driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling is present on the side of the vehicle, the effective range of the driving assistance area is limited to the range from the vehicle to the restricting object, When it is determined that the restricted object no longer exists in front of the vehicle, the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area is released. Driving assistance device.

2. When the restricted object is present on the side of the vehicle, if a direction indicator on the side where the restricted object is present is activated, the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area is cancelled even if it is determined that the restricted object is present in front of the vehicle. The driving assistance device according to claim 1 .

3. When the restricted object is a predetermined restricted object through which the moving object cannot be detected by a camera or a distance measuring sensor, the system is configured to determine whether the moving object is present within the effective range of the driving assistance area based on position information of the moving object around the vehicle acquired by short-range communication. The driving assistance device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The device is configured to determine that the restricted object will no longer be present ahead of the vehicle when it is determined that the required time to reach a point where the restricted object will no longer be present is within a predetermined time or the distance to the point is within a predetermined distance. The driving assistance device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. A vehicle driving assistance method, comprising: When a moving object existing around the vehicle is within an effective range of a driving assistance area set around the vehicle, a notification is given to the driver; When a restricting object that restricts the moving object from entering the driving lane in which the vehicle is traveling is present on the side of the vehicle, the effective range of the driving assistance area is limited to the range from the vehicle to the restricting object, When it is determined that the restricted object no longer exists in front of the vehicle, the restriction on the effective range of the driving assistance area is lifted. Driving assistance methods.

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